That guy at the flea market who lectured me for 20 minutes about my Batman collection

Last month at the Rose Bowl Flea Market I was flipping through a dollar bin and this older dude saw my Absolute Batman trade and just started going off. He told me I was 'ruining the hobby' by buying reprints instead of hunting original runs, then pointed at a beat up Detective Comics #27 reprint and said real fans only chase first appearances. I stood there holding a $12 book while he listed every issue I 'needed' to sell my car for. It stuck with me cause he wasn't even mean, just dead serious like he was saving my soul. Anyone else run into gatekeepers who act like owning a floppy makes you a better fan than someone with trades?

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1 Comment

kellyjones26d ago

Ugh, gatekeepers are the worst. Like, congrats dude, you memorized a price guide from 1998, want a medal? I get that hunting old issues is fun for some people, but acting like someone's hobby is wrong because they didn't drop a mortgage payment on a comic is just silly. We're all reading the same stories, just on different paper. You do you, and let the guy enjoy his dollar bin finds in peace.